Tourist visas are no where on the list.
I found an interesting quote from a past king:
Depending on whether you think technically Tibet is a separate country - China occasionally suspends foreign visits there. I read in the news they did so again a few months ago. Even at the best of times, you need to apply for a separate travel authorization permit, and be accompanied by an authorized guide with itinerary as part of a guided tour (even if it’s just you).
China itself, you have to send in your passport to their embassy with an application. As long as your employer does not appear to be media-related, you should have no problem getting a visa. One piece of advice I found online is don’t mention a trip to Tibet on your China visa application either - add it after your visa is approved. Otherwise, I was told, your visa application will be rejected.
In the link Egypt is not mentioned - countries like Egypt and Jordan basically make you buy a stamp for your passport ($15US IIRC for Egypt, $30 for Jordan); they seem to do almost no checking on your credentials, other than that you have a valid passport.
Once you’re out and about don’t try to go from Israel to some of the other Mid-East countries.
Why is Bhutan limiting tourism so much, and is it just for Americans or all foreigners?
Environmental issues and xenophobia. They want tourists because of the money, but they’re worried that tourism will hurt the environment and bring in foreign ideas (Bhutan also really seriously discriminates against the Nepalese living there and has been trying to ethnically cleanse them.)
So, their strategy is to make Bhutan seem exclusive and mysterious, bring in rich tourists, gouge them, and keep poorer tourists out of the country.
Danger from pirates?
Whoosh?
Do you need a visa to visit Bouvet Island, the Kurguelen Islands, Antarctic Territories?
The Tristan de Cunha archipelago is the most remote inhabited chain of islands in the world - thousands of miles from the nearest land and has no airport, air access or regular sea routes. If I remember correctly you can only get there by hopping on fishing boats from South Africa once every couple of months, which are expensive and are often booked up a year in advance. Even if you manage to get on one of those boats it’ll be at least a couple months before you could get back to South Africa.
It’s not a visa issue, but like Tristan da Cunha, Kerguelen only has infrequent visits by support ships, so it’s not “easy to travel to” in the sense that you can go there any time you want. And there are islands in the world that you can’t visit at all for various reasons. But none of these count as “countries” in the sense intended by the OP I think.
Bouvet Island - looks like a good candidate for somewhere you can’t visit at all.
Yeah, Bouvet Island, in spite of having a top-level domain for reasons I do not understand, is not in any sense a country. “God-forsaken hunk of rock” is a more accurate description.
I don’t think that you can be allowed to visit the Kerguelens (and a number of other isolated and uninhabited French islands). I know that occassionnally some people request informations about settling in such islands, and are politely denied.
On the other hand, I know that there are some organized trips to Antarctica (or at least used to be some years ago. I remember that some people were concerned that this kind of tourism could have a negative impact on the environement).
As for the reason why Bouvet Island might be considered important by Norway, I would guess the Economical Zone and the resulting fishing rights. There’s quite a lot of fishing (legal and illegal) in those frigid waters. I know that France try to control fishing as much as possible (with military ships) in the area. I would suspect that Norway does the same.
From the site:
“Went to Bouvet Island to stay at the Super 8. Was not Super 8. Was sea lion habitat. Neighbors were noisy, rude, and raided by killer whales. Would not recommend.”
Oh for the love of shit they weren’t joking. Roomlike.com has nineteen pages of “Hotels and apartments in Bouvet Island”. One of them has a five-star review and it starts at €0.00 / night. I mean, that’s a deal. You just can’t beat that. Shit, it’s even a Bed & Breakfast.
(The location says it’s in Barcelona, but that’s a minor detail. For that money, you can walk.)